technology

Technology Used By The US For Border Security Will Help Restore Trust In Society

In the months after the 9/11 terror attacks, those of us building the nascent Department of Homeland Security were seeking ways to better defend our borders – particularly our air and seaports. The US-VISIT program was created to protect the nation by providing biometric identification services that help federal, state and local government decision makers accurately identify the people they encounter and determine whether those people pose a risk to the United States.
As we pause to recognize the 15th anniversary of DHS, you can see how those early investments in biometrics continue to make an impact today. Programs such as Global Entry and TSA PreCheck rely on biometrics to make travel more convenient and secure for frequent flyers. But that just scratches the surface of how biometrics – our unique body characteristics – will change our lives for the better.
I was an early supporter of biometrics at DHS and remain a champion for the technology. I particularly like how innovative organizations like USAA, which manages bank accounts for millions of our military families and veterans, use the inclusiveness of biometrics to help those veterans access their financial information. By using an app on their smartphone, they can scan a fingerprint, speak a short phrase or take a selfie to authorize transactions – a particularly helpful option when you've lost a limb.
Right before our eyes we are changing from physical trust models to virtual ones. A hundred years ago, our "trust sphere" was small – largely defined by those we needed to interact with – our village or neighborhood, grocery store and perhaps doctor and banker. People recognized us largely through physical face-to-face interactions. In today's ever increasing digital world, to be most effective and leverage the Internet to its greatest possible extent, we need to be able to expand our 'trust sphere' to a much broader set of people and organizations. Some would argue that we made a major mistake in 1960, when we started using the silliest of all ways to prove your identity – a password. Passwords are insecure. They don't require the person they claim to represent to be present in the interaction. They bear no resemblance whatsoever to the individual. And if I have your password, then no system that relies on passwords to authenticate trust can tell you and I apart.
Headlines are typically dominated by the harmful consequences of our trust being violated. It's usually the result of a cyber hack, where passwords have been stolen in bulk and accounts infiltrated. Or, more recently, nasty malware that spreads like wildfire when people open email attachments from others they thought were in their trust sphere – but were not. With each hack a bit of our trust is eroded.
But as we begin at long last to transition away from antiquated passwords to a more secure and convenient way to authenticate ourselves using our own identities, we can start to see the positive consequences of trust – a 'trust dividend'. That's the power of biometrics. When you put the human back into the transaction, it becomes more secure with less friction. No longer are we remembering (or, more likely, forgetting) dozens of passwords. Our identity is always with us and our ability to prove who we are takes just a second or two.
If you're the owner of a smartphone with a fingerprint scanner, you're likely enjoying that convenient, relatively friction-free process many times each day. By simply placing your thumb or finger on the pad, you're unlocking your phone, buying apps and accessing various accounts. You are instantly establishing trust and saving precious time.
Consumers will increasingly be using their mobile phone camera to scan government identity documents, carry boarding passes and authenticate themselves via facial biometrics as they travel. Each day brings new opportunities. Just recently, the World Economic Forum announced a global project called Known Traveller Digital Identity, which leverages biometrics to create virtually hassle-free international travel. Partners like Marriott have signed onto the project because they recognize the potential for biometrics to eliminate barriers we've all grown accustomed to.
When we made the decision at DHS fifteen years ago to go with biometrics to secure our borders, it was based on the premise that the very best technology removes barriers and simplifies our lives. That applies more than ever today with the devices we interact with each day. The Amazon Echo allows us to purchase common household items simply by speaking a phrase. The Apple Watch can unlock our hotel room door without need of a key. Google's self-driving cars will allow us to multi-task on the way to work. At the heart of it all, and the Internet of Everything, is the establishment of trust.
--Tom Ridge was the first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania. Today he is chairman of Ridge Global and serves on the board of Daon, a biometrics software company in Reston, VA.

Liverpool Information Technology Company To Expand, Create 22 Jobs

Liverpool, N.Y. -- Immediate Mailing Services Inc., an outsourcing and information technology company, says it will create 22 jobs over the next three years as it expands its operations in Liverpool.
Company officials said Tuesday they plan to add 6,500 square feet to the company's headquarters at 245 Commerce Blvd. and renovate 7,000 square feet of production and office areas at the same location.
In addition, they said the company will add 5,000 square feet to a 5,270-square-foot building the company purchased in January across the street at 220 Commerce Blvd. 
IMS employs 240 people, including 148 in Liverpool. The 22 jobs it expects to create in the next three years will bring its total in Liverpool to 170.
"We're on an upward swing, and we very much want to stay in Liverpool," company President and Chief Operating Officer John Mashia Jr. told members of the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency on Tuesday.
IMS has applied to the agency for $109,145 in tax exemptions for the expansion, which will cost $1.3 million. It is seeking a sales tax exemption worth $56,000 on construction materials, 10 years of property tax discounts worth a total of $43,395 and a mortgage tax exemption worth $9,750. It would have to pay a $14,310 project fee to the agency if the tax exemptions are approved.
Founded in 1986 by W. Lee Vanderpool Jr., IMS provides printing and mailing services for companies, including producing and managing transactional documents such as bills, statements and checks. It also provides marketing services. Its clients include financial services, healthcare and insurance companies. 
Fifteen of the new jobs will pay from $14 to $17 an hour, according to the company's application. The others will be information technology, manager, administrative positions that pay salaries of  $40,000 to $70,000, the company said.
Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148

When Technology Was Totally Radical: Dream Of The ’80s Lives On Inside Working Seattle Museum Exhibit

80s exhibitAaron Alcorn and Karen Corsica of Living Computers: Museum + Labs in Seattle use a modern laptop to work on the vintage computing display that will show on an overhead projector in the classroom portion of the new exhibit “Totally 80s Rewind.” (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
The Living Computers: Museum + Labs is built around important pieces and time periods as they relate to the history of computing. But with a new exhibit opening this week, the Seattle institution is tapping into the nostalgia and joy that came with what was arguably one of the greatest decades for pop culture
Yes, it’s official: if you grew up in the 1980s, your childhood is history.
“Totally 80s Rewind” opens to the public this Thursday at the museum, located south of downtown Seattle. The exhibit will feature three separate rooms as they would have appeared in a typical American setting in the 1980s.
The immersive experience doesn’t have an introduction explaining what it is, or any artifact labels attached to the walls throughout. Physically constructed in a corner of the museum’s first floor, the exhibit just is, and visitors are encouraged to spend as much time as they like becoming part of it. Like other exhibits at the unique Seattle institution, all of the technology works and can be used by visitors.
“It’s like a diorama that’s life-size that you walk into,” said Aaron Alcorn, curator at the museum, created by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. “It isn’t just about hardware, it’s about people using things. With that comes all these memories through use.”
“80s Rewind” begins in a high school classroom, set in Middletown, Ohio, as a nod to the sci-fi book and upcoming film “Ready Player One.” Desks are set up with Apple IIe computers, and a BASIC programming lesson is being taught via an overhead projector.
80s exhibitA BASIC programming lesson written on a transparency for an overhead projector. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
Alcorn and the team relied on a fictional teen character, named Alex, to guide the creation of the experience from start to finish. Alex’s desk, for instance, is in the back of the class, and the computer there will show that she’s not following along with the lesson because she’s very smart and ahead of everyone else. Her backpack hangs on a plastic chair, and inside it is a Sony Walkman, complete with a mix tape featuring music of The Cure.
80s exhibitA Sony Walkman, belonging to a fictional character named Alex, holds a cassette mix tape. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
The lesson is being “taught” by the father of Karen Corsica, a project manager at the museum who helped with the exhibit. Jim Corsica, of Naples, Fla., was also Karen’s high school math teacher when she was growing up in Racine, Wisc., and he taught her 10th grade computer programming class. Jim Corsica happens to do some theater acting now and he provided an audio recording of himself leading the lesson as well as the overhead transparency that is projected.
The classroom features a linoleum floor and a drop ceiling that will even have a pencil or two hanging from it. There will be gum under the desk tops, and vintage computing posters hang on the walls. Lockers in the classroom are also decorated with 80s-era artwork, and feature clothing items and more inside that tied to the decade.
80s exhibitThe Bit Zone video game arcade features several classic games. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) 80s exhibitA view from the arcade back into the high school computer classroom. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) 80s exhibitA dispenser in the arcade delivers free tokens for video game players. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
After school it’s time to head to the video arcade. Right next door is The Bit Zone, and the dimly lit space features several of the best vintage games you could hope to set your hands on: Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede, Joust, Tempest, Galaga and a tabletop version of Asteroids.
A token dispenser features a sign from a real Seattle arcade — and spits the coins out for free. But while visitors can certainly play as much as they want, there are arcade rules hung on the walls to encourage equitable playtime. There’s also a free pay phone hanging nearby, and yes, it does work for incoming and outgoing calls.
I tried my own 80s-trained hand at Centipede and managed to play for several minutes on a game that used to capture my attention for much longer. On Donkey Kong, I quickly ran through three lives, as I have completely lost the ability to judge the timing necessary to stay alive in that classic game.
After the arcade, we headed home with “Alex” to a friend’s basement rec room. Warm wood paneling (shipped from Georgia) and exposed floor joists overhead give the room a very Midwest-basement vibe. There is a selection of vintage furnishings, wall hangings, lamps and other decor, and most importantly for computer and game nuts, some hardware to propel the storyline.
80s exhibitThe rec room in the “basement” of the “Totally 80s Rewind” exhibit features vintage furnishings and electronic equipment. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) 80s exhibitA desk in the rec room holds a TRS-80 Color Computer and a phone with an answering machine. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
“In terms of computing culture in the 80s, this is the point where things have moved out of the computer room and universities and institutions and things are just coming into malls and your home,” Alcorn said. “This is the point where Americans are really meeting the computer and adopting it and making it their own and just embracing it. The ’70s were really important for the spread of the personal computer, but that’s much different than just saturating every bit of your culture.”
On a desk, there is a TRS Color Computer 3 and a selection of cartridges. A Nintendo game console is hooked up to the old TV, with a couple vintage controllers laid out on the floor in front of it. There is also a record player and LPs to sample, a Simon memory game, another phone with an answering machine, and a Betamax video player complete with such titles as “Star Wars: A New Hope,” “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock,” and “Splash.”
80s exhibitWho needs ultra HD? The original Star Wars film on Beta video tape. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)
Standing in the room with my iPhone in my hand, the juxtaposition between my modern technology and this snapshot of what I grew up with is really striking.
“You had to grab a cartridge and physically plug it in … you’re not just scanning through your apps and playing a game,” said Lath Carlson, executive director of Living Computers.
It’s conceivable that a visitor to the exhibit could disappear in this room and curl up on the couch, reading a book or flipping through a photo album while listening to old records. Living Computers doesn’t shy from the idea of people becoming part of the exhibit.
“The idea is that you should be able to come in and kind of explore,” Alcorn said. “We just want to see what people do. If someone wants to come in and watch a movie, if that’s how they want to spend their visit, OK.”
“Totally ’80s Rewind” will be open for a members’ only preview on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Living Computers Museum + Labs, 2245 First Ave S. in Seattle. The exhibit opens to the public on Thursday, and a 21-and-over party on March 24 will feature live aerialists, ’80s-themed karaoke, tabletop gaming, and a scavenger hunt. The exhibit runs through the end of 2018.

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